Albus Potter and the Lost Ones
by Dark Princess Of Daydreaming
Summary: Albus Potter never wanted to be famous, but, being the son of the chosen one, he's never had a choice. From his first year at Hogwarts, he began to form connections to others who were lost and alone and just like himself. And the moment the sorting hat touched his head, Albus learned that he has a destiny as great as his father's waiting for him...if only he can reach for it.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, this is my first HP fanfic (I've written a bunch of Avengers stuff), but the idea of Albus, Rose, and Scorpius's adventures has interested me since I read the books years ago. So, I started this (although Word is killing me with all the names it doesn't recognize...). **

**Anyway, I'm DP. I really hope you like this...and review? I love reviews;)**

**So, yeah... Here's Albus Potter.**

**-DP**

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**Albus Potter and the Lost Ones**

Chapter 1: The Pale Boy

It was all overwhelming, really.

Albus Severus Potter, son of the famous Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, named after two of the greatest headmasters Hogwarts had ever known, felt completely lost. It wasn't that the only people he knew were his older brother James, his best friend Rose Weasley, and the Malfoy boy. He could deal with that. But everyone was staring and whispering, which was only worsening his massive headache, the one that had arisen from an internal battle of Gryffindor and Slytherin.

"Should we find our seats, then?" he asked Rose anxiously.

"Oh...yes. How about here?" she suggested, pushing open the door to the compartment before he could say anything. That was just Rose's way; she was infinitely more confident than he was and in her new Hogwarts robes, with the extra couple of inches she'd grown over the summer, she already looked like she belonged. Albus glanced down at the jeans and t-shirt he was wearing. Perhaps he ought to have changed too.

"C'mon, Al," Rose commanded, interrupting his jumbled thoughts. He stepped into the compartment.

"Albus Potter," a pale boy drawled.

"Scorpius Malfoy," he retorted.

Rose looked anxiously between them, chewing her lip. "Can't you just behave this one time?" she pleaded. Both turned to her with incredulous looks, and her cheeks pinkened. "Please?"

Albus gave in first. "Only for you, Rosie," he sighed, and she beamed. Scorpius scowled.

"So, who are you guys, exactly?" a high voice asked from the corner. The three turned to stare at the delicate, dark-haired girl that none had noticed before.

"Who are _you_?" Scorpius demanded.

"Evangeline Grace," she said primly. Albus stared in fascination at her perfect little brown curls, the faint smattering of freckles across her pale nose, the little flecks of gold in her hazel eyes.

"Rose Weasley," Rose said, smiling kindly. "This is my cousin and best friend-" Scorpius's eyes narrowed- "Albus Potter. And that's my other friend, Scorpius Malfoy."

"Hi," Albus said breathlessly, offering a hand. She shook it- her hand was so small and fragile! – and raised one perfect eyebrow at him.

"Potter, you look like you might swoon," Scorpius said, smirking. "Hello, _Evangeline_," he added dismissively, and a faint flush appeared on her pale cheeks. Albus glared at Scorpius, but Rose took no notice, busy as she was extracting a textbook from her trunk. "What house do you think you'll be in?" the pale boy asked coolly.

Evangeline hesitated just a fraction of a second. "Ravenclaw," she said firmly.

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes, my whole family has been in Ravenclaw," she informed him, blinking. "What about you, Hufflepuff?"

Scorpius flushed. "Slytherin, of course. _My _whole family has been in Slytherin," he boasted, but he bit his lip and glanced at Rose, and Albus knew that he was torn. And Evangeline was lying, he realized. Her eyes were too wide and she looked nervous, like she was hiding something.

"Well, I'm just going to let the sorting hat decide what's best for me," he blurted out. "I mean, it's the hat's decision, right?" He determinedly ignored the nagging voice in his head that reminded him of his father's words about choices.

"Well, yes, but that hat sees everything in your head. It knows what's best," Rose said hesitantly. "Anyhow," she added, smirking, "weren't you just stressing about Gryffindor and Slytherin twenty minutes ago?"

"I've decided not to think about it," Albus lied, ignoring Rose's raised eyebrow and Scorpius's rolled eyes.

"I'll be in Ravenclaw," Evangeline repeated, as if trying to convince herself.

In the silence that followed, Albus sat down and closed his eyes, reflecting on how everyone he knew seemed to be hiding something. Except maybe Rose.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?"

"Yes, please," Albus said, digging in his pocket for the gold his parents had given him for that very purpose.

"Me too," Scorpius added, jumping to his feet and knocking into Albus, making him drop his coins all over the floor. "Sorry, Potter."

"Boys," Rose muttered. "Always thinking with their stomachs."

Upon making their purchases, Albus and Scorpius glared at each other other their identical stacks of sweets. "Licorice wand?" Albus offered Evangeline and Rose. They shook their heads.

"Cauldron cake?" Scorpius offered them, looking at Albus resentfully. Again, they shook their heads.

"Sugar quill?" Albus demanded.

"Cockroach cluster?" Scorpius shot back.

"Drooble's?"

"Chocolate frog?"

"Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?"

"Boys!" Rose exclaimed. "Honestly!" They glared at each other, and Albus reflected with resentment that it was only Scorpius that made him behave that way and he always felt stupid after their arguments.

"Sorry, Rose," he mumbled.

"I'll take a licorice wand," Evangeline said quietly, and Albus was so eager to give her one and redeem himself that he very nearly impaled her with it.

"So," Rose said awkwardly, clearing her throat. They all stared at her, and she blushed. "Er, how was everyone's summer?"

"My father wouldn't buy me the new broomstick I wanted," Scorpius said, frowning. "But he got me my owl, Romulus, so I suppose that makes up for it, even if he's not big enough to ride."

Albus rolled his eyes. "Mine was great. We got to visit a wizarding community in Greece with some of Mum's family for a week and then we went to a beach in the Caribbean with Mum and Dad's friend Luna. She's a bit weird, but fun."

Scorpius scowled, looking resentful, but Evangeline looked mildly interested. "Do you travel a lot?" she asked.

"Yeah, Dad has to go places for work, so we get to go sometimes," Albus explained.

"That's right, your dad is Harry Potter," Evangeline said interestedly, and Albus looked down uncomfortably.

"That's right."

"That must be great, having a legend for a father," Evangeline commented.

Scorpius snorted. "Can we not discuss Potter's father any longer?" For once, Albus agreed with the other boy.

Having Harry Potter was good sometimes, but others it was annoying, because Albus didn't like being the center of attention, and his parents made him rather famous. It didn't help that he was his father in miniature, minus the glasses and scar. And perhaps Scorpius understood this, because instead of meeting Rose's eyes when he looked up, Albus met those of the Malfoy boy and was surprised to see a trace of sympathy. Then Scorpius made an annoyed face and everything was back to normal.

"Firs' years! Firs' years, over here!"

"Albus, come on," Rose said impatiently, tugging on his arm.

"Right. You coming, Evangeline?" he asked anxiously, and she nodded. Scorpius was already waiting in the doorway.

"Firs' years, this way! Albus, Rose, look how much you've grown!" Hagrid exclaimed, thumping Albus on the back so hard he nearly fell over.

"Hi, Hagrid," Albus said, relieved to see someone else he knew. The half-giant winked at him before calling out the first years again and directing them down the path to the boats.

Albus realized only after the boats began their journey towards the school that sitting across from Scorpius may not have been the best idea. Still, most of the journey was uneventful, since they were all entranced in the majesty of Hogwarts, which had just appeared in their vision. At least it wasn't raining.

The boat began rocking suddenly.

Scorpius made a sound of surprise and Evangeline's face was panicked. "Please tell me that's just you playing a trick, Malfoy," Albus pleaded.

"Albus!" Rose exclaimed indignantly.

Dark tentacles reached up the side of the boat and Evangeline shrieked and flung herself to the other side of the boat, nearly flipping it over. The others worked desperately to steady it.

"Relax, 'is jus' the giant squid!" Hagrid called. "He's harmless!"

Scorpius's eyes widened in horror and he leaned back further, but it was too much for the boat, and he tumbled backward even as Albus flung himself to the other side in attempt to restore balance. But he was a second too late, so instead of keeping Scorpius from falling out, he merely joined the boy in the black waters.

"Albus! Scorpius!" he heard Rose shout somewhere to his left, but all he could see was a lot of torches and the silhouettes of curious students. Something squishy lifted him up and flung back onto a solid surface, and a moment later a mass that sounded like Scorpius landed on top of him.

"Albus, Scorpius, you're alright!" Rose exclaimed, hugging both of them as though they weren't both sopping wet.

"Bloody hell," Scorpius muttered.

"I could've lived without that, I think," Albus sighed, trying to no avail to squeeze water from his robes.

"Just wait until James hears about this," Rose said, apparently no longer worried, merely amused. She began to laugh, and Evangeline joined in, though she smiled sympathetically at him.

For once, Albus's favorite person in the world was Scorpius, who at least had a share in the humiliation.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry, I meant to post this a couple days ago, but I got distracted. **

**I hope you guys like it, and please...review? I want to hear your thoughts.**

**-DP**

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Chapter 2: The Sorting Hat's Decision

Albus stood in the chamber, shivering, trying to ignore the whispers the whispers that had only gotten worse after he'd fallen in the lake. Apparently that was not the sort of gloriously heroic action that a son of Harry Potter should be seen doing.

"Is it just me," Scorpius complained, "or is it cold in here?"

"Wet?" Rose asked delicately.

"Shut up."

Rose laughed, though she stayed a safe distance away. Earlier, Scorpius had shaken the water from his hair and gotten her wet as well and apparently she didn't trust him not to do something similar again.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?"

It was the Hogwarts ghosts.

"New students, all ready for sorting," a cheerful-looking man commented. "Best of luck!" He and a second ghost, who flipped his nearly-severed head off at them briefly, blew past. A tall, haughty-looking girl paused in front of Albus, hovering right in the middle of Evangeline, who looked suddenly frozen.

"You look very much like your father," she whispered, her expression turning strangely sad. "I hope..." she trailed off, closing her eyes. "I hope you are like him in other ways as well. You're needed more than you know."

"I don't understand," Albus whispered. He was uncomfortably aware of all the eyes on him. "You're the Grey Lady, right?"

"That is correct." The chamber door opened. "I will see you again, Albus Potter." And with that, she was gone.

"That was _cold_," Evangeline said, rubbing her arms and shivering.

"Boys and girls, come with me." The same professor, a middle-aged witch who called herself Professor Brocklehurst, who had taken them to the chamber and explained about the four houses had returned to collect them. "It's about time to begin now, so please form a line." And with that, she led them out of the chamber, across the hall, and through the double doors into the Great Hall.

Albus didn't think he'd ever had such a stressful walk in his life. Upon the opening of the doors, a sort of hush had fallen throughout the room as everyone turned to stare at the line of first years being led up to the high table. There were four long tables full of students and gold dishes running the length of the room and a high table where the adults were seated. He could make out James at what he supposed must be the Gryffindor table, standing on the bench and saying something to the boy next to him. He also heard whispers of "Albus Potter! He's James's brother, didn't you know? And Harry Potter's son!" It was all Albus could do not to cringe.

They stood shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the high table and facing the four tables of students, so Albus quickly became acquainted with the rough stone floor and starry sky of a ceiling in attempt to avoid the staring eyes. Then Professor Brocklehurst set a stool in front of the first years and placed the Sorting Hat on top and Albus quickly turned his attention to it as a rip near the brim opened like a mouth.

"_Oh, what have we here, now?_

_Some brand new friends, brand new faces;_

_Come to learn some magic tricks;_

_Come to grow and find their places._

_Well, here's your lesson to learn:_

_The Hogwarts Sorting Hat sees all._

_There's nothing there that can't be found_

_And you can't hide your secrets, neither big nor small._

_So pick me up and put me on._

_The Sorting Hat will know_

_I'll find your place and then you'll see_

_The ones you need and the houses where you go._

_Bravest of them all is Gryffindor,_

_With the red of courage in their blood._

_They've got nerves of steel and fears so few;_

_Their hearts are a golden flood._

_For Ravenclaw, you must be wisest,_

_Your intelligence describes you best._

_And though your hearts are misplaced inside a book,_

_Your cleverness will help you beat the rest._

_In Slytherin, quite frankly,_

_Your cunning takes the prize_

_Cold hearts, dark souls, and black ambitions,_

_Leave you always on the rise._

_Or else you belong in Hufflepuff,_

_The humblest and the kindest._

_Forgotten, yes, but always there,_

_And your loyalty is the strongest._

_But who am I to speak this way;_

_You're meant to work as one:_

_One school, one unit, one people._

_If you don't, our lives are done._

_And yes my words are dark,_

_But let me say they're true._

_For this class of first years may not seem like much,_

_But they're ones to bind us; they're the glue._

_For dark times come, closer, ever closer;_

_So now must we prepare._

_Our fates will in your hands, first years, it seems_

_So come try me on, but only if you dare."_

Rose turned to Albus in alarm. "Does it usually say stuff like that?"

Apparently not, because the Great Hall had broken into loud, anxious murmurs as older students voiced their alarm and fear to all of those around each them. Even several of the teachers looked worried and Albus watched a family friend, Professor Neville Longbottom, turn to whisper something to the man next to him.

"Silence!" Professor Brocklehurst's voice rang through the hall, and silence fell immediately. "First years, when I call your name, come forward and place the sorting hat on your head. Anderson, Thomas!"

A small boy with very short blond hair and watery eyes scampered forward nervously. The moment the hat touched his head, it cried out, "HUFFLEPUFF!" and the boy took off the hat and hurried over to the table that Professor Brocklehurst indicated, which was cheering the loudest.

The names continued, though Albus knew none of them. And after catching his brother's eye the first time and seeing the smirk on his face, Albus stared very determinedly at the floor.

"Grace, Evangeline!"

"Good luck," Albus and Rose whispered as one, and the small girl smiled gratefully at them both as she walked nervously over to the hat.

It took its time deciding with her, not making a decision for at least two minutes, and Albus could see the "mouth" moving slightly as it talked only to her. Then, "RAVENCLAW!"

"So she was right," he commented as he joined in the applause, and Rose gave him a funny look. He stopped talking, and eventually they reached, "Malfoy, Scorpius!"

"Good luck," Rose told him encouragingly, and Albus gave him a nod. Scorpius, who looked rather green, hardly acknowledged them. He walked slowly over to the hat, still wet and shivering, obviously trying to ignore the whispers that followed him, and Albus felt a strange surge of- compassion? sympathy?- before remembering himself.

Albus remembered hearing his father say that the sorting hat had immediately chosen Slytherin for Scorpius's father, but that was not the case for the son. Scorpius was no longer green, but seemed to be getting paler and paler, until finally the hat called out, "SLYTHERIN!" and the pale boy was welcomed into the mass of other cruel, ambitious folk.

But Scorpius didn't look as happy as he should've. Instead, he continuously looked back over at Rose with worried eyes, occasionally glancing over at the Gryffindor table, and Albus realized what Scorpius wanted. Even as he realized this, however, he heard his own name called.

"Potter, Albus!"

But he didn't hear Rose's whisper of luck or the excited murmurs that arose all over the hall at the mention of the famous Harry Potter's son or the nearly silent whispered words of James Potter and Scorpius Malfoy. All he could hear was a sort of ringing in his ears and the loud, exaggerated echoing of footsteps in his head.

When the Sorting Hat was placed on his head, Albus immediately heard a small voice in his ear.

"Harry Potter's son, is it? I remember that one. Hard to forget."

_Gryffindor or Slytherin? Gryffindor or Slytherin? _Albus thought silently, mentally pleading with the hat to tell him where he belonged.

"It really is your own choice, in the end. It's what's in you that determines who you are, not what I say or even how you're sorted. You're putting too much hope in me." Albus flinched. "You could do well in Gryffindor, and be brave and strong and true like your father."

_Gryffindor, then?_

"But you would also do well in Slytherin. Learn to use your ambitions, the people around you, understand them all. Gryffindors are brave, but in Slytherin too, you can conquer your fears."

_Slytherin , then? But..._

"You're a mess of fears, Albus Potter, but you could be the greatest, the uniter of the houses, the best leader Hogwarts has ever known, if you grew to your true potential. You're the key to saving us all."

And that was it. Albus didn't want to be anything special; he just wanted to be normal and have normal friends and not be known as the son of the famous Harry Potter. But his father's words echoed back to him in his head, saying, _Albus Severus, you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was in Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew. _Albus Severus Potter had been born for greatness that he did not want, but would do his best to live up to anyway, because that was who he was.

"You might find what you need in Gryffindor, but you will find who you are in Slytherin." And so, the Sorting Hat made its choice in the same moment Albus made his, "SLYTHERIN!"

And the room went silent.

Dead silent.

Not a sound.

Not a cheer.

Nothing.

"The son of Harry Potter," they began to whisper, "sorted into Slytherin? What kind of boy is he, to be the child of the chosen one and put into the darkest of houses?"

Albus stood there, the hat still on his head, half-hoping it would cry out, "JUST JOKING! HE BELONGS IN GRYFFINDOR!"

But it didn't.

Albus took off the hat and placed it on the stool, then walked towards the Slytherin table, ignoring the stares and murmurs and just holding his head high and keeping his face impassive. A moment later, the applause began, scattered as it was, and, quite suddenly, the Slytherin table erupted into violent shouts and jeers of, "Take that Gryffindor!" and, "We got Potter!" Albus slid onto the bench next to Scorpius, whose shell-shocked expression almost made the torture worth it, and finally glanced back at Rose.

There was a single tear sliding down one cheek, but she was smiling a little, and he realized that of all of them, she wouldn't judge. Hadn't she been friends with him since they were born? Hadn't she been friends with Scorpius for years without her parents knowing? If Rose was still his best friend, he could deal with the rest of the school.

He hoped.

When "Weasley, Rose!" was finally called, Albus tuned back into the world. Perhaps it was ironic that, despite her two best friends being sorted into Slytherin, the Sorting Hat called out, "GRYFFINDOR!" the moment it touched her head.

The feast was incredible, but Albus could barely eat. He was so nervous that he was shaking and his stomach felt much too queasy to digest anything, and certainly not the rich feast foods. Beside him, Scorpius was alternating between cramming his mouth with food and staring dejectedly in Rose's direction, although this routine was occasionally interrupted by sending dirty looks at Albus.

"Welcome to Slytherin," a high, clear voice said sweetly.

Of course, upon looking up, Albus promptly dropped the drumstick he'd been working on into his flask of pumpkin juice, showering himself, Scorpius, and the newcomer in sticky liquid.

"Potter!" Scorpius exclaimed.

The girl giggled, and Albus stared in fascination. She was pale and dark-haired, at least a year older, with the longest eyelashes Albus had ever seen. Scorpius nudged him, hard.

"Stop staring like you've never seen a bloody girl, Potter," he hissed. "You're worrying me."

"I'm Madison," she said, tossing her hair.

"Scorpius Malfoy," the blond boy said in a rather pompous manner. Madison threw him a disdainful look and turned to Albus.

"I'm Albus," he said tentatively.

"The Potter boy." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah. Is that okay?" Inwardly, Albus cringed as the words left his mouth.

"Depends," Madison admitted. She looked at him thoughtfully. "Do you have a middle name?"

He nodded warily. "It's Severus." _After Severus Snape, a Slytherin who loved my grandmother all his life and who my father talks about with the highest regard. A man you would certainly look down on if you knew the truth_, Albus thought.

"Severus is good. May I call you Severus?" He nodded mutely, thinking that if he was acting like a different person, maybe going by a different name was fine too. "I'll see you around, Severus."

* * *

"You're such a moron, Potter."

"Hmm?" Albus asked wearily, as they followed the prefects down to the common room. He was starting to get nervous again as he thought about all of the rumors about the Slytherin dormitories.

"The famous Albus Potter," Scorpius muttered. "He gets all the whispers, all the girls, all the things he and his father have never wanted. Or so I thought."

"I don't understand."

"Stop acting so delighted and innocent!"

"Delighted?" Albus repeated, stopping in the middle of the corridor. Other students continued walking around them, but the two boys stayed where they were. "You think I like this?"

"I don't know what to think. Potter in Slytherin... _Weasley_ in Slytherin, because you're that too, aren't you? It should've been Rose," he said abruptly, turning away. Albus followed him slowly as he walked away.

"I didn't ask for this," he muttered. Or had he? After what the sorting hat had said to him, he didn't know what to think. Eventually, he hurried off to the Slytherin common room with the other students.

The long, low-ceilinged room was exactly what Albus expected from Slytherin- and exactly what he'd hoped he would be wrong about. The rough stone walls and floor were cold and uninviting, despite the warm, crackling fire in the elaborate fireplace. Greenish lanterns hung from the ceiling by rusted chains and the many straight-backed chairs looked anything but comfortable.

"Oy, Potter!"

Albus looked up to see Scorpius scowling at him. "Dormitories are _this_ way," he drawled. "Do try to keep up."

And so, Albus followed the son of his father's rival down to the cold, dark room they would be sharing with the other three Slytherin boys. But, despite the depressed feelings slowly rising up in him, he tried to force himself to not immediately hate the situation. If the sorting hat was to be trusted, this was where he belonged, after all.

"This is Potter," Scorpius said sneeringly the moment Albus entered the room.

One of the other boys, a small and dark-haired boy who looked not unlike Albus, rolled his eyes. "Everyone knows Potter."

"Do they? I don't," complained the second boy, who was rather large and bulky, with small, beady eyes.

"Shut up, all of you!" the third boy snapped from where he lay on his four-poster bed.

Scorpius winced, but while they changed into pajamas, he whispered names to Albus. "The small one, that's Kieran Nott. His father's a family friend of sorts. Then there's Lewis Goyle; we had a falling out a few years ago because he's a stupid buffoon. And I think the other one is Rhys Jeffrey. He's a prat, but you don't want to get on his bad side, trust me."

Albus nodded and studied each of the boys. Kieran stared back warily, obvious distrust in his dark eyes. His hair was so long that he tied it back in a sleek ponytail, and Albus couldn't help but think about how Rose would react. Probably say that he was a useless, pretty boy. Lewis looked rather confused and kept knocking clumsily into the lantern that hung in the center of the room, making Albus cringe. Rhys mostly just lay there, occasionally calling orders to the other boys, which they all hastened to obey.

When Albus finally lay down and jerked the hangings of his bed closed, it was a great relief to let his eyes close and the nightmarish reality slip away.


End file.
